Friday, October 31, 2008




spoke the cat says, happy halloween.

Thursday, October 30, 2008

as long as we are on the topic

approximately 10,000 years ago ancestors of arabs built the city of jericho, located on the fabled west bank. during world war two, the holocaust occurred. in 1947, the united nations recommended that palestine be "provisionally partitioned" into an arab and jewish state. at the time, arabs out numbered jews in palestine and even though jews owned only 7%, they were granted 55%. now, imagine if you will that the u.s government suddenly came into louisiana and partitioned it up into a louisiana and texas state. do you think there would be some out cry? would you be a little upset if the land you lived on suddenly belonged to texas and you had to get off of it? if you are the new state of israel and you want to get rid of the palestinians, what do you do? how about good old fashioned ethnic cleansing? after all, they were taught by the masters, a la the nazis. in april of 1948, "zionist terror squads massacred 254 palestinians in the village of deir yassin." this included women and children, as well as the old and sick. this prompted nearly half a million palestinians to flee. shortly there after, israel declared itself a country. i could go on. the list of atrocities is very long. if these actions had been perpetrated by anyone other than israel, they would be considered a rogue terrorist state. instead, we annually funnel massive amounts of money into their coffers and they never pay it back. we obsequiously back their every endeavor at the expense of our own reputation among arabs everywhere. terrorists are NOT born, they ARE made. muslims do not spring forth from the womb with explosives strapped to their chest, chanting anti-american slogans. our refusal to hold israel accountable for their atrocities has stoked the fires of terrorism. i am in no way, shape or form advocating terrorism, but we have helped to make terrorists. we continue to make them by invading a sovereign country and bogging ourselves down in an the mire of iraq. terrorism is a horrible thing to engage in but if we want to break the cycle, perhaps we should stop perpetuating terrorism ourselves and stop rewarding others for their use of it.

much ado about nothing

mccain is now trying to link obama to rashid khalidi in yet another lame attempt to taint obama as a terrorist by association. enough already! mccain, you are pathetically desperate and you need to shut the fuck up. this article of obama speaking at a banquette with khalidi was reported by the los angeles times way back in april, so why now mccain? is it because the presidency is slipping away from you? who is khalidi anyway that he should stir such controversy? well, for starters, he is a respected middle east expert and professor at columbia university. he is so well respected that his books on u.s policy in the middle east are actually required reading for senior officials in the u.s government, the bush administration included. hmm, that really doesn't sound like a big bad terrorist to me. also, i would like to point out mccain's ties to khalidi, whom he likened to a neo-nazi(cuz we all know how neo-nazis love black men). while mccain was serving as chairman of the international republican institute in the 90's, khalidi's palestinian research center was well funded by the institute. hmm, did mccain think him a neo-nazi then? maybe, he has had ties with neo-nazis before. the other controversy surrounding this banquette was that a young palestinian recited a poem in which he criticized israeli terrorism and called westbank zionists no better than osama bin laden. here in this country, anything but blind devotion to israel is heresy but you might think differently if you were a palestinian. again, this constant attempt by mccain to link obama to terrorists has consequences. it instills fear in people and could incite someone to action in the form of an assassination attempt. so spoke the cat says that mccain really should just shut the fucking fuck up!

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

what i learned in jury duty

i was chosen to serve on a 2nd degree murder trial and prior to this, i had no idea that a conviction of second degree murder holds a mandatory life sentence. that's it, no parole or time off for good behavior. this disturbs me some what. i can totally see it from the victim's perspective, that once the life is taken, there are no more second chances. yet i wonder if it is in society's best interest to show no leniency. if the perpetrator is 18 when the murder is committed, should that person warrant a life sentence? the trial disturbed me greatly and on many levels but what i had the most trouble with was the responsibility of it all. if i was wrong and voted not guilty, then a potential violent offender was once again loosed on the streets to do it again. but what if i voted guilty and the young man really was innocent and convicted, locked away for the rest of his life. i understand that this process is the fairest and that if i support the notion of a trial by ones peers, then it is my civic duty. having said that, i hope to never serve again. i am glad the process exist but i lost nights of sleep over it and still wonder if justice was served. in the end, i voted not guilty because i think that careless police work left more than reasonable doubt in my mind but the majority voted for a guilty verdict. the verdict was guilty and so a young man is going to jail for the rest of his life and now the potential of two people has vanished. it is one thing to vote your conscience but quite another to cave under pressure of wanting to go home. when we began our deliberation, we were 6 guilty and 6 not guilty. as the clock ticked by, the desire to go home increased and one by one they slipped over into guilty. i hope i am wrong and that in the end, the guilty verdict was what they truly believed. still...i can't stop thinking about the parties involved. the man shot to death. the victim's girlfriend. the young man who will never again see anything but the gray of prison walls. damn, just damn.

Sunday, October 26, 2008

something inspirational for a change

you can't keep up on current events without being depressed. there is always some new story about man's inhumanity to man that will have you questioning whether there is anything redeeming about us as a race. so, it is always refreshing when you come across a story that helps renew hope in mankind. there is just such a story coming out of mexico. central americans have long been making the arduous trip to the united states in search of work, taking them through the dangerous territory of mexico, where they faced robberies, rapes, torture, and kidnappings. mexico has long been silent on the plight of these migrants...until now. in rafael lara grajales, mexico, dozens of kidnapped central americans escaped from a home where they had been stripped, robbed, and beaten. they poured out into the streets, begging the locals for help, saying the police had been involved. it would have been safer for the townspeople to turn their backs. if the police were involved, they risked certain reprisals. they risked possible incarceration, torture, and even death. yet despite the dangers, they did the right thing. the townspeople turned out to clothe and hide the victims. they got on bullhorns to call for further action in protecting these migrants from being rounded up by the police, who they feared were involved in the mass kidnappings. they stood up for these strangers in the face of tear gas and riot police because it was the right thing to do. let me say that again, IT WAS THE RIGHT THING TO DO. what a fucking inspirational story that is. here in america, we have the luxury of not having to be confronted by this type of scenario and yet, we refuse to get involved in even the smallest of things. voting is not enough. we must engage in social activism. here in new orleans, we do not even come forward to say what we saw when we witness a crime and so the criminals go free and the murder rate climbs. i understand fear but damn; if these people can rise up, despite the odds, then how much easier should it be for us? this is our city. this is our country. stop whining about it and fucking do something. you can make a difference. you may not be aiding migrants but there are things you can do to positively impact the world around you. my roommate is a perfect example. in the face of corporate greed, he has chosen to no longer get his insurance through aig, because of their financial mess. in the face of what those people did in mexico, that may not seem like a lot but it creates change. instead of leaving things up to the politicians, we must act on our own to send clear messages. we have that power. it is not up to someone else to make the world a better place, it is up to us. i, for one plan to remember what they did in mexico, the next time i'm whining about something i think i have no control over. the universe is mine to create what i will out of it and it is yours and yours and yours.

Thursday, October 23, 2008

it's not that i don't like roosters

it's that four o'clock in the morning is just too early to be up. the rooster starts at four o'clock and begins to crow almost constantly until the sun rises. it will then crow throughout the day just in case you had the mind to nap. it is not the cute cock a doodle doo that we all grew up on. no, it is this annoying screech that never changes its inflection. i am going hunting soon and there will be rooster stew, you are all invited.

Sunday, October 19, 2008

palin's church and witch hunting

I was hanged for living alone
for having blue eyes and a sunburned skin,
tattered skirts, few buttons,
a weedy farm in my own name,
and a surefire cure for warts;

Oh yes, and breasts,
Whenever there’s talk of demons
these come in handy.
--Margaret Atwood

before becoming governor of alaska, palin was annointed by thomas muthee, a visiting pastor from kenya. muthee has made a name for himself in kenya by targeting a woman and accusing her of witch craft. the woman was forced to flee her home under threat of being stoned to death. do you know what they do to witches in kenya? they burn them. think about the horror of that for just a second. contemplate the slow agony of being tied to a stake while brittle branches are stacked about you and then lit. no escape. the unbearable pain of the flames and the stench of your own flesh burning. does it turn your stomach? it should, unless of course you belong to palin's wasilla assembly of god and then it is the lord's will. how many people were accused of witch craft through out the years, simply because they were different? is it too far into the past to recall the frenzy of salem? is this the kind of association we want our vice president to have? much has been made of obama's ex-pastor but the media seems struck with muteness when it comes to palin. to accuse someone of witch craft in kenya is to stoke up the flames of extremism, fear, hatred, and eventually murder. they BURN witches in kenya. this man, muthee made a name for himself by accusing a woman of witch craft and he then laid hands on palin in prayer for her ascension to the governor's office. palin called the experience "awsome"and said muthee was "bold." this is a man that creates a frenzy of fear in a country where the consequences of that kind of behavior can lead to the deaths of the accused and palin's church sanctions this as god's will. kalnins, the pastor at the church has condemned all critics of bush to hell fire. he says we are in a "spiritual war" and that christ has called us to "die for him." does that sound familiar? because that is what muslim extremists believe that allah has called them to do. kalnins says, " we should be in war mode." the wasilla church is a part of the third wave which trains young people in so called "jesus camps" to become part of "joel's army" in order to wreak "dominion" over the u.s and the world. they are taught to be soldiers. where is christ's message of peace? where was christ's message of peace when muthee was exciting the masses to threaten that woman with stoning? palin is a scary bitch that needs to be kept as far away from political office as is possible and certainly barred from the white house and the nuclear codes. GO VOTE!! it is fucking critical that we vote this year. this type of religiously motivated world view has no place in american politics. period.

Friday, October 17, 2008

did someone say palling around with terrorists?

if you live in a glass house and start hurling rocks, you best grab your ass and kiss it good bye because some of those rocks are bound to come flying back. mccain and palin have been trying hard to paint obama as a terrorist by association in regards to his relationship with ayers, a member of a radical fringe group in the 1960's. when you start making accusations like that, it just makes people wonder what kind of skeletons are two-stepping in your own closet. well, mccain certainly has some. from 1981 to possibly 1986, mccain was involved with a group known as the u.s council for world freedom and its affiliate organization, the anti-communists league. he went so far as to serve on the board of the world freedom group. these are far-right organizations that have been "implicated in the iran-contra affair, linked to neo-nazi death squads in latin america, and was bankrolled by the leader of the unification church who served time for tax evasion." in 1981, the anti-defamation league said these organizations were gathering places for extremists, racists, and anti-semites. do you know what another word for extremist is? it is terrorist. so john mccain, it seems to me that you have been palling around with terrorists and that, by you own rules, makes you GUILTY by association. so spoke the cat says, go fuck yourself.

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

mccain, you have a responsibility

i am a staunch advocate of freedom of speech. yes, you have the right to spew hate and subtly juxtapose elements to guilt people by association. mccain and palin have the freedom to link obama to terrorists by associating him with ayers. they have that right but they also have a responsibility as to the consequences of their words. it is telling when mccain/palin supporters are screaming out "terrorist", "traitor", "kill him", and racial slurs in reference to obama at their rallies. mccain and palin are stoking the fires and it is a very dangerous game to play. yes, obama knows ayers. they have worked together on projects BUT so have numerous other democrats and republicans alike. ayers was a member of the weather underground, and anti-vietnam group that engaged in a series of bombings. does that make ayers a domestic terrorist? yes, at least at one time. but keep in mind these actions were carried out when obama was eight years old. when palin repeatedly links obama to ayers by saying that he "pals around with terrorists", she uses the plural and makes a subtle connection to obama and all terrorists, such as muslim extremists. obama becomes guilty by association to the very ones that committed the 9/11 acts. she follows it up by saying that obama does not see america as we see america. again, the juxtaposition would indicate that he seeks to undermine the country the way a terrorist might. and at rallies for her, the people respond with hate. this is a woman, who interestingly enough chose to quote westbrook pegler during her convention speech. pegler was a racist, anti-semite who openly advocated the assassinations of fdr and bobby kennedy. it seems an odd person to quote especially when there is fear for obama's safety. and what is palin doing at these rallies when people are screaming out kill obama or other slurs? NOTHING. she is doing nothing. tell me palin, is that the kind of rhetoric that your god appreciates. you have a responsibility to address that. you have a responsibility not to stoke the fires of hatred. mccain and palin can go on playing this game but as i have said earlier, there are always consequences. i just hope for obama's sake, he doesn't have to pay for them.

Monday, October 13, 2008

palin and office abuses

palin is now coming under some scrutiny for charging the alaskan tax payers for religious trips, blurring the line between the separation of church and state. i have long lamented that many of our politicians forget this key component of our constitution by allowing their religious beliefs to influence their legislative record. i really do not care what your beliefs are as long as you keep them out of your public service record, which means that you cannot vote to disenfranchise american citizens simply because you think god hates fags. you also cannot expect the tax payers to foot the bill so you can enjoy religiously motivated outings. palin's brand of religion is frightening because she believes that we are living in the end times and that has a way of becoming a terrible self-fulfilling prophecy. it is also one of the reasons that she is so reticent to question the motives of israel, the so called chosen people of god. this also motivates her in regards to russia. many subscribers to the end time prophecies have labeled russia as magog in the bible and they help usher in the battle of armageddon. these zealots will do anything to accelerate the end of the world and that kind of blind devotion has no place in the white house. our forefathers were very clear on the separation of church and state. vote for obama and vote for the constitution.

Sunday, October 12, 2008

on the dissolution of my relationship

it is hard to walk away from someone that i have loved so intensely for so long. it is the addiction of love and like a wise friend once said, we have all been the junkie and we have all been the junk. leaving is the hardest thing even when it is the right course of action. i have been so accustomed to calling her and telling her about my day that i am at a loss for where to go with stories. and every great thing, i want to share with her. and every beautiful thing, i want to give to her. at first there was anger but after that cools, the sadness sets in and that is a harder thing to shake. one foot in front of the other. don't over think. don't over complicate but it is complicated. relationships always are and i cannot believe that she will vanish from my life. simply vanish as though there were never intimate moments and words whispered between lovers. i think it is the ghost of her that will keep me awake for so long to come.

art show

spoke the cat is giddy with glee after my first art show ever and plans are already underway for a new show in a month. i will be a painting fiend. i like this new direction my life is taking. good things are coming and i fully intend to take control and make it all happen. thanks to everybody that turned out and thanks to j for making it all happen. i have some fucking wonderful people in my life.

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

civic duty

first of all, the building is morgue cold. i'm practically wearing a parka. and today, they engaged in what amounts to visual chinese water torture in that the fire warning lights were malfunctioning. for three hours it was like being in a rave. the lights were constantly pulsing. i was vomiting in the corner. i'm sure it was a social experiment to see who would crack and how. we did not get out early today. i have to be back there tomorrow. i'm going to relax now.

Monday, October 6, 2008

yet another reason to dislike the nagin administration

sometimes, you stumble across a news story that is so upsetting, you want to hit something. i have found just such a news story in the form of struggling hiv/aids clinics in new orleans. these agencies have been paying out of pocket to keep providing services to those afflicted with the disease, even though the federal government is allotting 7 million in support of the 4,144 people living with hiv/aids. this money should be going directly to clinics and out reach programs but they have yet to be reimbursed by the nagin administration. it is not news that nagin is an ass but this really is a new low. these agencies are essential to not only helping people live normal lives but also enable them to continue to survive the ravages of this disease. in addition, they help fund preventative programs. my god! how hard is it for nagin and his cronies to get up off their lazy asses and do one fucking thing right? people's lives are at stake. to put it in language nagin will understand, this behavior is the mother of all fuck ups. the city council is stepping in to try and pressure the administration to expedite the process but there is only so much they can do when the power of the purse resides with the executive branch. wow, and nagin continues to say come home, come home. come home to what? i guess the invitation only applies to hiv negative people because if you are positive, it is getting harder to live here.

Friday, October 3, 2008

why can't sarah palin tell me what she is reading and other questions i shouldn't have to ask.

in the katie couric interview, when asked what reading material palin perused in order to keep on current affairs, palin seemed stumped for an answer. rest assured, she wanted couric to know that she is reading many things and is abreast of world events. couric again asked her to name something specific and again, palin seemed to be at a loss. three times, couric asked her and three times, palin was unable to provide one single specific example. really? because if you ask me what i read to be on top of current events, i can list specific items. i read the local paper. i go the bbc online and read. i read factcheck.org. the drudge report and moody's economy. why is it that palin cannot tell me what she is reading? is it because she doesn't read? is it because she can't read? you will forgive me for being a bit flippant but honestly, at this point you have to ask. why is it that the american people seem to want to embrace this fake populist, rube persona in our politicians? don't we want our political leaders to be bright little light bulbs? if i interview someone for a job, i want that person to be intellectually capable of handling the tasks set before him. most employers would agree, so why then, do we not hold our political leaders to the same standards? bush is a perfect example. he slouches across the lectern like some tobacco road back woods farmer, claiming to hail from crawford, texas; a town he helped create in order to win the governor's race, in a grand spectacle to present himself as a "simple" man of the people. and all others, by default are elitist snobs, a la obama. this is not new. andrew jackson pulled this same stunt when running against adams. jackson was just one of the people who never learned to spell, whereas adams, a highly educated man was branded an elitist. damn but i want my president to be the sharpest knife in the drawer or pretty close to it. i don't want homilies. i want knowledge. knowledge of current events and diplomacy. and yes mccain, i want my president to be versed on economics, especially when our economy is sliding into a depression. don't say catchy little phrases like "joe sixpack" to me, rather prove to me that your foreign policy experience goes beyond being able to see russia from your backyard. and for all things holy, be able to name at least one damn thing you are reading, even if it's mad magazine.

Thursday, October 2, 2008

free!!

let the angels sing in gratitude, i have been set free from jury duty early today! and what a beautiful day it is. the light has changed and slants in a golden hue. the morning had just the hint of a chill to it and i confess to dreaming of adventures. autumn always makes me restless. i get the fever when the wind stirs and long to go off on some treasure hunt, a la the "goonies". at the very least, this day was made for wine, cheese, tart green apples and kisses sweet upon the levee. hmm...i think i'll go loll in the hammock and soak up the long stretch of afternoon sun.

jury duty

i am up at this wicked hour when even the birds have yet to rouse from slumbers sweet so that i may do my so called civic duty by endlessly waiting in the jury pool. i hope i have enough reading material. i feel as though i should have stocked up on a backpack full of magazines and i know, i really should have purchased an i-pod before now. i have never served on a jury before now and i am a bit curious if somewhat melancholy about my month long incarceration to be served every tuesday and thursday. i could be painting instead. i need to be painting. oh well, i'm off.